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(1) Now it came to pass when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai and had utterly destroyed it—as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king—and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, (2) that they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty. (3) Therefore Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon, saying, (4) "Come up to me and help me, that we may attack Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel." (5) Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered together and went up, they and all their armies, and camped before Gibeon and made war against it. -Here in these first five verses we’re told how that the king of a then Canaanite Jerusalem heard about what the Gibeonites had done with Israel. -Namely, that they had entered into an agreement with the Israelites and because of it, this king Adoni-Zedek decides to go to war against them. -This is interesting for a number of reasons not the least of which is this king is the antithesis of what his name means; “Lord of Righteousness.”

-In other words, he’s really the Lord of unrighteousness, so much so that in effect, he becomes, as it’s been suggested, a type of an anti-Christ. -If you really think about it, this is Satan’s modus operandi, or, MO, if you prefer, in that he will always make war with those joining God’s people. -I would venture to say when you came to Christ you had an Adoni-Zedek who came against you for entering in a saving relationship with Christ.

-By the way satanic attack can actually be a good thing. By that I mean when the enemy leaves you alone it’s probably because you’re no threat. -I’ll take it a step further and say that if you ever get a thank you card from the Devil thanking you, then you really have a problem on your hands. -The bottom line is, spiritual warfare is a good indication of how you are a serious enough threat to the powers of darkness and Satan’s kingdom.

-There’s something else here that I want to point out before we move on to verse six, and it has to do with how this would have been a deterrent. -What I mean by that is, this would have both deterred and discouraged the other nations from doing what the Gibeonites did with the Israelites. -The reason this is important is because it speaks to how the enemy will discourage and even deter non-believers who may also come to Christ.

Charles Spurgeon – “Those who join the Lord’s side are sure to have enemies, but they may be rest assured that the Lord will come to the rescue.”

(6) And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal, saying, "Do not forsake your servants; come up to us quickly, save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the mountains have gathered together against us." -Oh, so now the Gibeonites need the help of the Israelites after they had lied to them, and were deceptive with them. What’s Joshua going to do? -You’ll forgive my sanctified sarcasm, but if I’m Joshua, I would be very reluctant to trust them, by virtue of how they’d cried wolf too many times. -Be that as it may, Joshua, who has learned from his mistakes before is going to handle this situation in an infinitely better way than he had prior.

-What had he done prior? Well, it wasn’t just what he had done it was also what he had not done. There was both commission and omission. -It’s what Joshua had committed and omitted more specifically he’d omitted inquiring of the Lord concerning what he committed against the Lord. -Had he not omitted seeking the Lord about allying with the Gibeonites, he wouldn’t have committed to yoke himself together with the Gibeonites.

2 Corinthians 6:14 NKJV (14) Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

(7) So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor. (8) And the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hand; not a man of them shall stand before you." -Couple of thoughts here, first, this is huge, in that the Israelites could have had an “out” by letting the kings of the Amorites wipe all of them out. -Here’s why I say that, technically, even legally, the agreement the Israelites had made with the Gibeonites was that they wouldn’t wipe them out. -They had not agreed to stop anyone else from wiping them out. This must be God’s way of getting them out of a bad deal that they made right?

-Notice in verse eight we read how that the Lord said to Joshua; “Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hand, and non will stand.” -This would indicate that Joshua learned the lesson of always seeking the Lord in every situation, as the Lord is always ready to give us wisdom. -The Lord is not only granting Joshua the victory, He’s honoring Joshua and the Israelites for honoring the vow they made with the Gibeonites.

-I would suggest to you that this is nothing shy of God’s unspeakable and amazing grace, and that it comes vis-à-vis a godly sorrow for their sin. -This is a picture of a loving heavenly Father Who can’t resist when one of His own repents confesses, renounces and learns from their failures. -It’s then and only then that God, in effect, has permission to grant us His grace, and show us His mercy, and this is exactly what He does here.

Proverbs 28:13 NIV He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

(9) Joshua therefore came upon them suddenly, having marched all night from Gilgal. -Notice Joshua’s response to what the Lord has promised to him, in His grace for him, is to get the wheels in motion immediately with no delay. -This would suggest a couple of very important things, the first of which is that Joshua was responding in faith, as opposed to not reacting in fear. -The reason that this is so important is because Joshua has heeded that which God had command based on that which God had also promised.

-Let me try to unpack that a bit, so that we can get our mind around it, and our hand on it, so as to learn a most powerful life lesson that is in it. -God had commanded Joshua to not fear and in so doing had also promised Joshua that he would be given the victory in conquering the enemy. -I suppose you could say Joshua’s faith in the promise conquered his fear of the battle. So too is this true for us, we are more than conqueror’s.

Romans 8:37 NKJV Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

-The second very important life lesson to be learned from this verse is the need to get-busy, and work hard, in being about the Father’s business. -I love the account of Jesus in the Temple astonishing the teachers, when Joseph and Mary return to Jerusalem realizing He was not with them.

Luke 2:49 NKJV And He said to them, "Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?"